Tell me about RYNJ

amother

Silver

Sun, Apr 03 2016, 11:59 pm

Yes. I have had 3 girls go thru RYNJ. 2 graduated, one still there. A couple have had speech, OT and extra help thru BCSS.

I have been mostly happy. My highschoolers do just as well as their counterparts from other schools here in every subject but Ivrit, which is not a strong point at RYNJ.

If you have boys, I can't really answer much, but if you have more specific questions I'm happy to help out.

amother

Blue

Mon, Apr 04 2016, 12:35 am

I have 3 boys at the school. We are happy there. Two of our children have ISPs (aka IEPs) and get services. They get speech and OT through bergen county, but they also get pulled out for reading, math and kriah, just through the school recognizing they need some extra help. They're both extremely bright and mainstreamed, they just need some help.

We like the school - it's hard to find a good boys school that has both limudei chol and kodesh.

You can ask me anything.

amother

Taupe

Mon, Apr 04 2016, 8:48 am

amother wrote:

Is this for younger grades, ( kindergarten) when I spoke with them iT sounded like there wasn't much help available in younger grades.

amother

Blue

Mon, Apr 04 2016, 11:03 am

amother wrote:

Is this for younger grades, ( kindergarten) when I spoke with them iT sounded like there wasn't much help available in younger grades.

Yes, my kids have had help since they came into the school. Starting in nursery. They even have a lunch group once a week for social skills that one child went to(last year in prek). My kids are in grades 4 and under.

That sounds strange, talk to them again.

amother

Blue

Mon, Apr 04 2016, 11:07 am

amother wrote:

How hard is it to get in? The application fee is quite high, and I know my kids need services. Can any of you tell me what their criteria are for accepting kids?

Everyone gets in as far as I know and as far as they told me when I applied. However, if they something like the sinai program, that's different. They also have the T program in some of the grades.

BUT if you're coming from NY, you will NOT get the same services, as services come from Bergen County/RiverEdge district and they are not as accommodating. We came from NY where my child had PT and a C-It/See-it? and was told that Bergen County doesn't give PT unless a kid can't walk and cit's are paid for by the parent, but at that point you need a different program, like sinai.

amother

Seagreen

Mon, Apr 04 2016, 11:31 am

amother wrote:

Can you be a little more clear? I would like my kids to get PT, but OT can work for the same purposes for my kids. No need for a SEIT. My kids have low muscle tone, lack organizational skills, have focusing issues. They would benefit from social counseling/group. One of my kids needs a boost in reading. They are not disruptive to a classroom environment. Currently, one is eligible for PT but I haven't been able to find a provider anyway. I've heard that Bergen County will give services where necessary. I'd be happy with OT, P3 for the one with reading issues, social counseling/group. I was impressed by the different levels of learning going on, I really think my kids can do well in an environment like that.

amother

Silver

Mon, Apr 04 2016, 2:23 pm

New Jersey works differently than New York. There is no P3 here. Bergen county special services will evaluate your kids. If they qualify, they would get OT and speech, but not usually more than once a week. The kids in NJ private schools do not get as much services as kids in NJ public schools. There is no PT, but the OT at YNJ is great, and incorporates a lot of movement into her sessions. I personally never found that the speech my kids got at YNJ was helpful, once they were out of first grade I stopped it and did it privately. YNJ has great internal resource classes, my kids at various points have received extra help in math, reading, language, Kriah and chumash. Maybe not as much in kindergarten, but there as well..Its not a super academic preschool, They don't push kids to read either hebrew or English before first grade. Reading is tracked in first and second grade to accommodate different english readers, and hebrew reading is taught in first grade.

amother

Seagreen

Mon, Apr 04 2016, 2:48 pm

amother wrote:

Thanks for the details. We don't need speech, so I'm not concerned about that. If there's support for math and reading, I'm not concerned about P3. Can anyone tell me in greater detail what is covered by OT in school?

amother

Silver

Mon, Apr 04 2016, 3:05 pm

The OT will evaluate to see if there are any fine motor, visual perceptual, visual motor, motor control issues that are affecting handwriting or other areas which would impact classroom performance. They will note muscle tone and organizational skills. There needs to be enough of a delay to qualify. Generally though, they only offer OT if there is an iep. If your child doesn't have an iep, you may not get OT from BCSS. The OT who works there always sees kids at the school privately for a cheaper rate than what you would pay outside. You can always call the director of special services at ynj and ask her your questions.

amother

Seagreen

Mon, Apr 04 2016, 3:14 pm

amother wrote:

I intended to get my kids IEPs. Can you tell me what BCSS is? Is it difficult to get an IEP?

naturalmom5

Mon, Apr 04 2016, 3:22 pm

I can't praise YNJ enough. When my son was 8 he was in a Lakewood school and beating up kids left and right. He was very wild and violent in the lunch room, playground and recess.
Ironically, he kept winning mishnayos contests every week. The school let him get away with murder because he was very bright. Maybe he wasn't challenged enough. He was switched to YNJ upon the recommendation of several child psychologists.
In 3 months they calmed him down without drugs and he became a model student.
Now he is a senior. He got an almost perfect score on the SATs

amother

Coffee

Mon, Apr 04 2016, 4:35 pm

Another poster here. Will BCSS honor an IEP from New York or will they make you do the evaluations again? What about a recent private evaluation?
Would you recommend YNJ (t program or otherwise ) for a child mildly on the spectrum with no behavior issues?

amother

Silver

Mon, Apr 04 2016, 5:58 pm

I dont think any new jersey school accepts an IEP from NY for more than the first 30 days. Chances are your child will need to be re evaluated, unless your evaluations are from within the past year, in which case they may use the evaluations and just re write the IEP. I'm pretty sure they would accept a recent private eval.
YNJ is a regular school, with over 1,000 students of all types. There are many, many students going in and out all day long for reinforcement, enrichment and replacement. A child who is somewhat on the spectrum can do fine. Just keep your eye on the social piece.